Gargoyle Creation Ritual

The Gargoyle Creation Ritual is a Level 5 Thaumaturgy ritual, used by the Tremere to create gargoyles from the dismembered parts of other Cainites - it is the process through which the first of that bloodline came into being.

Overview

The Tremere ceased making Gargoyles after the Slaves revolt, and, as part of the Camarilla negotiations, promised to never revive the technique. The instructions for the ritual have been hidden, but not destroyed.

“

At Our Command it Breathes

”

The thaumaturge (with assistants, if desired) takes various victims and sews them together into a single humanoid form, which usually destroys the minds of the victims being used. She then sews a sac made from an animal's womb (usually from a cow but sometimes sheep or deer) around her creation.

The sac is then suspended in a cask containing an alchemical equivalent of the womb's waters or placed inside an oversized, specially prepared female Gargoyle for gestation. During a period ranging from one to three months, the thaumaturge must periodically visit the gestating Gargoyle and perform various incantations and blessings.

If she is away from the gestation chamber for more than a week at a time, the fetal Gargoyle dies and cannot be revived. Finally the Gargoyle either forces its way down the living mother's birth canal or bursts from its cask. The ritualist must be present to waft purifying smoke onto the newborn Gargoyle. Any other Gargoyles within half a mile instinctively sense the impending birth of a new brother.

They feel a powerful urge to flock to its side when it is born and lick the bodily fluids off its skin. Although this custom helps bond the Gargoyle to its new community, it is not a requisite of the ritual. A Gargoyle can be born in isolation.

System

The Thaumaturge sews together pieces of Cainites in order to form a full humanoid shape and to grant various capabilities to the new Gargoyle. The correspondence of parts to capabilities is laid out in a variety of ancient and arcane medical texts (for example, the heart provides courage and resolve, the eyes perception and wisdom) but also depends on specific alchemical preparations. Physical beauty is beyond the ritual's capabilities, though. All Gargoyles appear stony and twisted.

The thaumaturge makes the ritual roll as the fetal sac is put into gestation. The roll is Intelligence + Occult (difficulty 9 + one for each donor after the first). An unliving womb reduces the difficulty by 4. A single success allows the creation of a Gargoyle. The basic blood cost of the ritual is 5 points for each Cainite used in the Gargoyle's manufacture. Add an extra 5 points if the caster wants the Gargoyle to be fertile. Tremere of the 12th generation or higher cannot conduct this Ritual and it automatically fails if attempted.

The resulting Gargoyle is fully Blood Bound to its creator and its role as well as strength of the blood is determined by the vitae that was used to create it. Its generation is based on the weakest of the Cainites used to create it (unmodified by Blood of Potency or any other effects) + 1. The created Gargoyle develops a dot in Visceratika and the Cainite combination used during the Ritual indicates which breed of Gargoyle is formed:

• Scout - Gangrel/Nosferatu breed: develops a dot in Flight and Fortitude. Abilities focus on Stealth and Survival.

• Warrior - Gangrel/Tzimisce breed: develops a dot in Flight and Potence. Abilities focus on combat.

• Sentinel - Nosferatu/Tzimisce breed: develops a dot in Fortitude and Potence. Abilities focus on Alertness and defensive traits.

By devoting further years of research to the Gargoyle arts, the thaumaturge may devise and construct variant types like the Hexaped, Iecur, or womb-bearers.

References

• VTM: Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy, p. 136
• VTDA: House of Tremere, p. 116-117